


Two Can Keep A Secret If...

by iippo



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 04:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19940230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iippo/pseuds/iippo
Summary: Pearl tries to find a loophole. Set somewhere in season 3 after "Mr. Greg" (S3.E8).References to A Single Pale Rose (S5.E18)





	Two Can Keep A Secret If...

Greg Universe was inside his van having a quiet multimillionaire night in when a polite but sharp knock on the back door of the vehicle disturbed him. He clambered to open the door and was very surprised to see Pearl standing on the parking lot with a difficult-to-parse expression on her face.

“Pearl! Is everything okay? Steven isn’t here."

“Steven?!” Pearl seemed alarmed until she realised Greg was assuming _she_ was looking for Steven. “Oh, no, uh, I came to see you.”

Greg felt several complicated human emotions at once – he was used to receiving the cold shoulder from Pearl and he wasn’t sure anything had changed even after their recent trip to Empire City; there hadn’t really been any signs of thawing.

“Oh, er, what can I do for y- I mean, what’s... uuuup?” Greg fumbled with his words as he climbed out of the van. He sat in the opening of the back of the van and motioned for Pearl to take a seat. Hesitantly she did.

“You are the human – and, or… gem” Pearl admitted, “that Rose loved the most, and I feel like therefore you deserve to know the truth about her,” she started, monitoring her hands as she spoke. She glanced at Greg, who stared at her with his mouth slightly agape.

“She was—“ Pearl began and clapped her hands over her mouth. She crunched her eyes shut in frustration.

“Oh Pearl, you don’t have to tell me anything about Rose if it’s too emotional for you,” Greg said, misunderstanding her reaction. He was feeling multimillionairely awkward.

She moved her hands away from her face and began: “It’s not too emotional for me, it’s that I—“ Her hands flew to cover her mouth once again.

“Pearl, please, I know how much you loved Rose and she loved you, you don’t have to—“ Greg attempted to get her to stop, but Pearl cut him off.

“No!” She shouted with exasperation at the interruption by her hands and by Greg. “I mean yes, of course, she did, I did. But I can’t…” She sighed and leaned her elbows to her knees and hung her head. “It seems that I can’t tell you either. I was hoping that since you were human I might be able to tell you that—“ Immediately her hands shot to cover her mouth again.

Greg looked at her with a dawning realisation. “You literally cannot tell me. And you can’t tell the gems – or Steven, right?”

Pearl turned slowly to look at him, hands still over her mouth, and nodded.

“Is there some… gem magic that is preventing you…” – Pearl nodded, continually fixing her gaze to Greg’s eyes, pleading with him to see what was going on – “…from revealing some secret of Rose’s past…?” she nodded vigorously and carefully let her hands drop, but said nothing.

“Pearl, that is awful! I’m so sorry she did that to you!” Greg exclaimed, with nothing but compassion in his voice. “When did she do this, after the war?”

“No, during. While I was still her—“ the unyielding hands shot up again and Greg held up his hands. “Okay, okay, no spoilers! It’s still really awful that she did this to you.”

“She had to!” Pearl cried out between her fingers. “If anyone had known—!” The hands cut her off again.

Greg shook his head. “She could have just trusted you, Pearl. Without using her powers,” he said with indignation. “That’s what trust is about.” Pearl twisted to look at him in surprise. She had never heard Greg express anything except doting worship towards Rose, and definitely not criticism. Immediately her reflex to defend Rose flared up.

“Clearly I wasn’t worth the trust,” she said. “I was going to betray her secret to you.”

“Pearl you know that’s not fair,” Greg said sternly. “Rose didn’t know any of this was going to happen. She would understand that the circumstances have changed. Wasn’t that what it was always all about, how things on Earth change?”

Pearl studied Greg’s face – that weird human male face – and she saw him with new eyes and felt… respect. He had lived a vanishingly short time on a single planet, he knew _nothing_ of the vastness of space or time. And here he was, wiser and kinder than any gem she had ever known.

“I always felt so… superior to you,” Pearl mused out loud, unable to look at his face and turning her head to stare down at the ground in front of her. “I couldn’t understand what Rose ever saw in you. But I can see it now," — she glanced at him — "I see it in Steven. All the ways Steven is better than Rose; it's because of you.”

Greg knew not to minimise a compliment like that, so they sat together in silence for a moment. Then he looked up at the darkening sky, he saw the first stars beginning to peek down from space and he broke the silence.

“Maybe some day Steven will be able to use his powers to remove Rose’s gag order.”

Pearl smiled sadly. “Maybe,” was all she could muster.

“Believe in Steven!” Greg said with such gusto that Pearl couldn’t react to his genuine warmth with anything but a genuine smile.


End file.
